Producer Salma Hayek called on 9 of the biggest names in animation to work on the film and will be in Annecy for the premiere of The Prophet at the Festival’s opening ceremony on Monday 15th June.

The Prophet

On the imaginary island of Orphalese, a mischievous and mute
8-year-old girl named Almitra fortuitously meets Mustafa, a political
prisoner under house arrest, and they form an unlikely friendship. But
on the day that they meet, the government tells Mustafa that he is
finally free and soldiers quickly escort him to a boat that will take
him back home.

On the way, Mustafa shares his poems and views on existence
with the people of Orphalese while Almitra secretly follows him. At each
step along the way, she dreams up sumptuous landscapes that illustrate
his words. When the little girl learns that the government has plans to
kill Mustafa, she decides to try anything to help him.

Roger Allers and Bjarne Hansen

Director Roger Allers(The Lion King) and artistic director Bjarne Hansen
created the animation style for the storyline, while artists from
around the world elaborated and directed the eight segments illustrating
the poems of Khalil Gibran.

In the Presence of Salma Hayek

"Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet has been read by
more than 120 million people all over the world, so it was a real
challenge for me to adapt it to… animation. I decided to get help from
nine of the best animation directors around (Tomm Moore, Michal Socha, Joan Gratz, Nina Paley Bill Plympton, Joann Sfar, Mohammed Harib and Paul and Gaëtan Brizzi), each one was completely free to imagine a story based around the poems" Salma Hayek